Falls from ladders are usually uncontrolled falls and that’s why they’re so dangerous.
If you start to slide and you know you’re going off the edge, you may have have some control at least over how you land. The safest way to land is spread-eagled on your belly. That spreads the impact over the greatest area. People have survived 5 story falls landing in that manner.
Landing on your feet is bad unless it’s not that high. I know carpenters who’ve had to jump from second floor wall plates and weren’t injured, but it was painful. If you’re going off a high roof, turn onto your stomach and push off as you leave the roof edge. Pushing off will help you get postition, but it can also help you clear things like AC units, which are typically near the foundation.
I prefer to grab the gutter on the way down and as it pulls off the house you land gently on your feet. Sometimes you get stuck half way down, then you just kick around until the next gutter nail pulls out.
I think that is BS…where did that info come from, or are you just gonna laugh your butt off watching someone do a grass belly flop because you said it was the best way…Would be kinds funny to see
You’re all nuts. Where in the SOP does it staight that I’m gonna get on a ladder to look at your roof. I can see everything I want from the ground. New invention gentlemen…binoculars! If I see something that’s out of place I recommend…wait for it…a roofer!! Idiots! I’m not going to break my vertibrea for $400 Are you insane?
I was working for a framing contractor in CA who had a 600 man payroll. He got huge break on his insurance (enough to give away 4 trucks a year at the company picnic) because he was strict about holding safety meetings. We had a guy talk to our crew about this. I read the first-hand account from the guy who fell 5 stories. It was in England. The guy landed on a brick pile and broke some bones in his face but no internal injuries.
What really convinced me was when I fell out of a tree when I was a kid. I fell about ten feet and landed flat on my stomach with my arms and legs out to the side. It didn’t hurt at all. I mean at all. I was about 8 years old at the time and I thought it was really weird that it didn’t hurt. It wasn’t until that safety meeting yeas later that I realized why.
I worked on a construction job where the superindent had been with airborne troops in the Israeli military. He told me that in jump training the instructors told them that if their 'chute didn’t open they should try to land on their head. The idea was that, since they wore helmets, the mess would be a little easier to clean up.
I like Wayne’s way even better. Of course if you’re wearing your cleated golf shoes like you should be, you won’t have that problem.
I’m kidding. Don’t wear golf shoes on the roof. I have Cougar Paws roof boots and they help some.
As far as whether or not you should be on the roof in the first place… I do what I feel comfortable with, and if I don’t feel capable of walking it safely (either for me or the roof-covering material), I don’t feel guilty, I just explain why I didn’t walk it in the report and recommend evaluation by a roofer with special equipment.
We won’t walk every roof. Don’t ever walk a slate roof.
Uh…Ken, I think you should schedule an operation with a good eye surgeon. You need to have your eyes installed farther apart and have your corneas inverted–then you will see through the binoculars.:roll:
Just dont fall off…lol…Knock on wood…Ive been roofing for 15 years this year and I have never had one fall off a roof or ladder…wow…lol…however that is great info however I would never do that…
From that link
…Mortality declines (in this order) when the point of impact is ventral (the front of the body), dorsal (back of the body), lateral (side of the body), and feet-first.
Still… you know, we were working on new construction that had no gutters installed. Any roof with a gutter… I’d be taking that gutter with me. I think you try for every plumbing stack, combustion, and roof vent on your way to the edge.
Read it again. Mortality DECLINES in this order, in other words the most deaths occur first or when the point of impact is ventral. All the way to LEAST number of deaths is feet first.
Yeeeaah, I guess you’re right Stephen, but I don’t believe it’s true. That list is backwards.
OK, here’s the background of the first guy on the list of people from whose work this article was developed. I don’t think he knows diddly squat about how to properly fall off a roof. I’ll bet he’s never been more than 4 feet off the ground while being outside:
Ben Rubenstein
“Originally from Boston, Ben grew up frightened of scallops, outdoor showers and swimming. This did not bode well for his summers at the beach. He countered these fears with a healthy appreciation for baseball and music, though it became painfully clear at any early age that he would be better off as a spectator in both of these endeavors. His not-so-occasional negativity, for which he has been given the nickname “Raincloud,” can perhaps be traced back to residual bitterness over these shortcomings. Either that, or he simply recognizes a stupid idea when he hears one.
The crafty southpaw graduated from Northwestern University in 2004 with a BS in Social Policy. Despite several emotionally lucrative internships and jobs in the field, he turned to a tenuous career in writing after holding it as a hobby for many years. He usually writes (and edits wikiHow) from his home, accompanied by the sweet sounds of his neighbors singing the theme song to “Different Strokes” at any time, day or night. Ben is a very kind & helpful person, You should really check him out.”
